Why You Should Launch an “Imperfect” Website

About 15% of the time, we see our nearly complete website development projects come to an abrupt halt waiting for feedback on a few small changes that need to be made before the site is “ready.” In these cases, we like to remind customers that they don’t have to wait for everything to be perfect to launch. Launching an “imperfect” website that is far better than your current live site is usually better for your business, especially if your website isn’t mobile friendly or is very outdated.

Websites are meant to be a work in progress and don’t have the same sort of finality that newspapers or printed publications do. There’s no worry that you’ll need to stop the press before a disastrous, expensive mistake occurs because websites can be updated quickly and easily.

Even sites that are perfect when they launch should evolve. In fact, one component of effective search engine optimization is keeping your site content fresh, and the key to that is updating your website often. Google prefers websites with content that changes regularly, and all things being equal, will rank sites with fresh content more highly than websites that are launched and never touched again. Just like in the tech world, it’s much better to launch and reap the benefits from a “Minimally Viable Product” rather than waiting until everything is “perfect.” You’ll be in a much better position to gather feedback from stakeholders when the site is live, and then you can adjust accordingly.

Once you decide to launch, keep in mind your web developers will need to complete any pre-launch tasks to ensure going live goes smoothly. These tasks don’t take much time, and can often be completed the same day you say you are ready to go live. But busy web development companies may need to schedule resources to complete your website, so check with your web provider on when to expect your site to be live. Keep in mind that even after a site is launched, it can take 24 to 48 hours to propagate fully, so don’t panic if you still see your old site minutes after you give the go ahead to flip the switch and launch the new site.

In conclusion, we recommend that you don’t fall into the trap of delaying a website launch because you aren’t sure about something that can be easily and quickly changed such as what image to put on the home page or a team member’s bio. Worried about costs adding up? Negotiate with your web development company ahead of time to ensure simple changes like this will be included for free after you launch and just go for it.